


nichibotsu

by furobure



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: (those who already beta'd this might now who the bonus character is lol), M/M, background & cameo characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 14:36:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16518353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/furobure/pseuds/furobure
Summary: a few years before emerald. tucker is cared for by a good friend during a time of weakness.





	nichibotsu

It was hot... unbearably hot. Then, a flash of teal, and then nothing.

Why couldn't he remember? It all felt like a dream...

Tucker woke up, his hair matted with sweat and all over the place. A hot, miserable pain came to his head at once, and he briefly shut his eyes and put his hand to his forehead, groaning. Then, he opened his eyes again. Where was he? Wasn't he supposed to be at the tournament? Where was Anabel? This wasn't the motel bedroom, either... The walls were a glossy off-white, the floors light blue and covered with symmetrical white dots. Too bourgeois for any motel he knew of. So many thoughts coming to mind, all with that pain still in his head; he couldn't focus on what he was thinking...

"Oh? Awake already?"

Tucker broke out of his trance when he heard that familiar voice and noticed the door was open. He tried to get himself up from the bed, but there was little energy in him, so he just stayed right where he was. A towel happened to be in front of him, mostly dry and warm. Was he that sick? The heat persisted and he let out another pathetic groan as he put his head down on the pillow again.

He wasn't afraid, though, because he knew that voice was from his good friend Wallace, that one who would always watch his tournaments and cheer him on, and compliment him on his wins and losses. He seemed to be really invested in his battles lately, but maybe he was just imagining things.

Wallace entered with a fresh towel in hand. Tucker still felt too ill to get up, so he just watched as Wallace came up to him and placed the new towel on his forehead, while taking the warm one.

Tucker felt something come up inside of him that he couldn't quite place... was it still that aggravating heated feeling? He brushed it off, his mind returning to his previous worries.

"How did I get here?" he said anxiously. He didn't feel the need to ask /where/ he was because with all of those water-based motifs around, it screamed Wallace's guestroom.

"The sun did you in badly. "I don't know what I feel more sorry about, the fact you lost, or the fact you were taken out that easily."

Blacked out? The sun? Took him out? Tucker for a brief moment looked extremely pissed. He was not going down just because some orb in the sky decided it wanted some toasted Tucker.

"And where's Anabel?" His voice sounded more concerned this time: she was not even ten and she was left with nobody around to look after her. Did she go back to the motel room? That was his sister! Then again, she was always leading their battles nowadays, so maybe she wouldn't be completely defenseless.

"She came to check on you earlier. You should've been awake to see her, because I don't remember her ever being so worried out of all the times I've seen her with you."

"My Pokemon?"

"Anabel took them with her. They should be fine."

Tucker sighed in relief. Sure, he might've gotten fried pretty badly, but there was nothing to worry about.

"Now, let me check your temperature." Wallace lightly touched Tucker's forehead, which for a brief moment caused a light flush of red to creep across the latter's face. His hand was so cold... but it felt good to be touched by something cold. No, wait, that sounded pretty weird. But he did need some cooldown after what happened to him earlier. After some few seconds Wallace lifted his fingers from Tucker's forehead, and left the room.

Wallace was so nice, Tucker was thinking to himself, for letting him stay at his place, and for taking care of him without asking for anything in return. He felt so comfortable staying in this room, that he wouldn't mind staying there for even longer.

A few minutes later Wallace came back with a tray of two cups of tea, one for himself and one for Tucker.

"Do I have to?" It didn't look exactly enticing.

"If you want to stay sick, don't drink it."

As much as he hated to admit it, Wallace was right. He drank some, and it tasted bitter even with the honey Wallace added, but it was icy cold, so he was compelled to keep drinking even if he hated the flavor. Nevertheless he was grateful that his friend went out of his way to make him something. Once they were done Wallace left briefly to bring the empty cups to the sink, and came back.

\---

For a while the two were chatting, talking about a range of topics and Wallace happened to see another brief blush from him.

"I've noticed that you've been acting strange," he commented. "Is there something wrong?"

Tucker couldn't form a reply; he wasn't sure if he was feeling like this because of delirium, or because of something buried deep in denial. Then, he managed to say something: "Could you come closer?"

"Why?"

"I don't know." He felt pretty awkward saying that - what guy asks his friend to come closer for no reason?

Wallace laughed and leaned in slightly. Tucker hesitated for a moment, but felt like he had to reach for his hand. Clearly Wallace must've noticed what he was intending to do, because he took his hand with both of his, covering it almost completely. Tucker's face turned red and it was warm; he looked down to hide his face, while Wallace smiled and blushed. How much more denial could Tucker take, at this point?

"I hope this isn't coming out of the blue, but do you like me, Tucker?" Wallace asked him.

"O-Of course I do! I mean, we're friends!" He put up a half-hearted smile, knowing Wallace was on to him.

"That's not what I meant. I've seen you blush at least three times while I've had you here, maybe more. I feel like there's something you don't want to tell me, and if you don't to tell me, that's fine. But at least be honest with yourself."

Tucker was torn on what to say. Wallace just called him out on his shit, and he was right! But him, to have someone like him like that, to... feel things for other people? That's not supposed to happen! He was about to let go of Wallace's hands, but something compelled him to keep holding.

"Fine. I'll tell you," he braced himself. "I like you, Wallace."

"Oh?"

"You heard me. I-I think you're really pretty, and... I like spending time with you whenever I get the chance, and I'm not sure how to make this not sound weird and...."

He was too embarrassed to go on, and hid his face again. Wallace let go of his hand... only to embrace him and give him a hug. Tucker was taken back by surprise, and that same red flush came across his face again. But this time, he didn't try to hide it.

"You didn't have to do this! I mean, I still feel sick and I'm not sure if I really feel this way about you, so... can I come back tomorrow? I'll probably feel better and you can hold my hand again...." If that same feeling returned, then his feelings were genuine. If not, they were probably just a product of the heat.

"My gods, Tucker, you are ridiculous," Wallace was trying to not laugh at his suggestion, "but that shouldn't be a problem."

The two stayed there for a while in that embrace, appreciating each other's presence, the tired, setting sun being washed by the waves of the sea.

\---

When Tucker got back to the motel, he was greeted with Anabel's Snorlax blocking the entrance, snoring itself away. He banged on the door, and it opened, the little girl greeting him.

As she called back Snorlax, she asked him, "Why did it take you so long?" She was a little weary looking, as if she were about to fall asleep.

"It's nothing." He didn't want to tell her just yet what had happened when he was at Wallace's, because he wasn't so sure about what he felt.

Still, despite looking serious, she gave him a hug. Tucker smiled and returned the favor, somewhat tired himself. At the end of the day his sister was one of the most important people in his life, and he felt so lucky that he got to know such a compassionate and caring person. He was just glad to be back - he didn't make it obvious, but he was worried that maybe she might've got hurt while he was gone, even with her Pokemon. To see her safe was so relieving, and it made him finally feel at ease.

\---

The next day, Tucker was waiting in front of Wallace's place. It was still early in the morning, so maybe he was still asleep? Didn't matter to him, because he could wait for a bit. He had signed up for the next tournament in Sootopolis for himself and Anabel, to make up for what happened the other day. He was also feeling so much better - not fully great but good enough that he wasn't groaning every five seconds.

"Well, you're up early." Wallace greeted him. He gestured for him to come inside.

Tucker stepped in, and was led to sit on the couch in the living room with Wallace. Oh, how soft it was... he would sleep on it if he could. But that wasn't what he was here for.

The two were chatting again, Wallace talking about the plans he had for the next few days, while Tucker didn't talk much, only having what he had signed up for in mind. He did enjoy his company, but there wasn't really much else he could comment on. He did reach out for Wallace's hand again, and again he noticed, receiving it with both of his hands again.

That familiar feeling of warmth returned, and Tucker smiled, fully welcoming that acceptance of his feelings.

**Author's Note:**

> To be quite frank, I have not written a proper, published, not-just-a-monologue fanfiction in over two years. This also happens to be my first proper Pokemon fic! So I suppose this was a learning experience, on my part? Thank you, my two beta readers, for helping me out :)
> 
> This fic was inspired by a Japanese fic of this ship which can be found at http://yuuhinokagi.web.fc2.com/s-bangaihen.htm (You'll need google translate to read it lol) While I liked the premise of the fic, there was quite a bit that soured the mood for me, so I was like 'You know what? I can play this game, too." So I switched the roles and ended up crafting my own story under the premise of 'one of them gets a heatstroke and the other cares for them and they fall in love'. There's a few details I liked from that (the honey tea, for example), so I snuck them in, but the rest is wholly original. 
> 
> A few probable concerns might be:  
> 'How did Anabel survive that long without him?' There's ~totally~ a deleted scene where Tucker comes back to find out she ate most of the food they saved, lol.  
> 'But doesn't Wallace like Ste-' Wallace got two hands. Two of those hands. We can work this out, people.  
> 'Shouldn't Tucker be more confident?' He should, normally, but because he's not in front of a large crowd of people watching him, I think in private he's more, I don't know, real? Like I'd imagine dealing with these feelings must be a bit much even for a 'superstar' like him, not to mention he's sick, too...
> 
> But really I just wanted to focus on the love between these two dorks so if it's not like 100% logical you know why lol.


End file.
